Rail anchor



May 8, 1923. 1,454,368

c. F. YARDLEY AIL ANCHOR Original Filed July 8. 1921 Patented May 8, 1923.

UNITED STATES CHARLES F. YARDLEY, OF LARCHMONT, NEW YORK.

RAIL ANCHOR.

Original application filed July 8, 1921, Serial No. 483,179. Divided and. this application filed July 15, 1922. Serial No. 575,252.

Tov all-whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES F. YAnoLnY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Larchmont, in the county of Westchester and State of New York, have invented certain new-and useful Improvements in Rail Anchors, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to rail anchor devices,

and has for its principal object the provision of a new and improved one-piece rail anchor device which may be easily applied to or removed from a. rail, which will maintain its initial ip on the rail by spring pressure and which will increase its grip on the rail during the presence of a creeping pressure on the rail.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide certain improvements in the type of rail anchor described and claimed in my United States Letters Patent No. 1,201,415 dated October 17th, 1916.

A further and more specific object is to provide an improved rail anchor of a onepiece construction adapted to grip a rail with spring pressure, in which a spring tongue bearing at its end only against the upper surface of the rail base, maintains said spring grip.

The invention consists in the provision of a new and improved anchor constructed as hereinafter described and claimed for carrying out the above stated objects, and such other objects as will appear from the following description.

The invention is illustrated in a preferred embodiment in the accompanying drawing, wherein:

. Fig. 1 is a plan view of a rail anchor constructed in accordance with my invention,

the device being shown in its operative position in full lines and in its partially applied position in dot and dash lines.

Fig. 2 is a view in elevation of the anchor device shown in Fig. 1, the base flange of the rail being shown in cross-section.

Fig. 3 is a view in perspective of the rail anchor device shown in the preceding figures, and

Fi whic the anchor shown in the preceding figures is'formed.

Like characters of reference designate like parts in the several figures of the drawing. Referring to the drawing, wherein'I have tween the vertical edges 16 and 18 of the re- 4 is a, view of one end of a blank fromshown my improved anchor device as com prising a body portion 10, cut away as indicated at 11, to provide a recess for receiving the base portion 12 of a rail, a tie abutting portion 13 adapted to bear, adjacent one edge of the rail base, against one of the vertical faces of the cross tie 1 1, and a spring tongue portion 15 which projects over one edge of the rail base and bears against the upper surface thereof. The configuration of the recess 11 provides a jaw portion hav ing a vertical edge 16 for engaging one of the base flanges of the rail and a lip 17 which bears against the upper surface of said base flange. The vertical edge 18 of the other end of the recess 11 provides means for engaging the vertical surface of the other base flange of the rail. The distance between the vertical edges 16 and 18 of the recess 11 is, preferably. suflicient to permit the anchor to be applied to rails, the base flanges of which, due to the wearing away of the rolls, with which they are made, are slightly wider than the bases of perfectly formed rails. Any clearance between the edges of the rail base and the vertical edges 16 and 18 of the anchor will be taken up by shifting of the anchor to a diagonal position across therail base. In order to minimize the distance becess 11, without making the application of the anchor more difficult, and without sacrificing the desired strength of the spring ton e 15, adjacent the edge 18, the edge 18 of t e recess is preferably tapered outwardly, as shown at 19, from a point adjacent the upper edge of the rail base, so as to provide the necessary clearance to permit the edges 16, 18 to be engaged with the rail base. The tie abutting portion 13 of the anchor consists of straight post portion 20 and an angularly disposed foot 21. The post portion 20 is, preferably, straight and converges with the adjacent edge ofthe rail base in a direction toward the tie, and the angularly disposed foot 21 projects under the rail base and engages with the tie at apoint near the edge of the rail base when the anchor is in its applied position. The u per edge 22 of the tie abutting foot is prefhrably in alignment with the upper edge of the body portion of the anchor so that it will bear against the under surface of the rail base when the anchor isin its applied position. The tie abutting surface of the foot 21 is 51 esa-see formed, preferably, curved, so as to confine its engagement with the tie to a point adjacent the edge of the rail base, thereby providing a. relatively wide bearing surface, and at the same time avoiding contact with the tie. at points, for example, near the center of the rail, likely to resist the tendency of the anchor to assume a slight diagonal position across the rail base during the presence of a creeping pressure on the rail.

The spring tongue portion 15 of the anchor is bent on line 23 of the blank (Figf 4-) to project toward the tie 14. and stands at an angle to the body portion, so that the distance between the vertical edge 16 of the jaw portion 24 and the end 25 of the tongue will normally be less than the width of the rail base to which the anchor is to be applied. The anchor is preferably, so formed that the spring tongue 15 will bear at its end 25 only against the upper surface of the rail base. An engagement of this character is obtained by so forming the lower edge 26 of the tongue that it will stand at an angle to the inclined surface of the rail base when the anchor is in its rail gripping position. lln the drawing ll have shown the said lower edge of the tongue 15 disposed a short distance above the upper edge of the body of the anchor and being parallel with the said upper edge of the body before the tongue is bent to its angular position.

The upper edge of the tongue is tapered downward toward its end, preferably on a straight line, to provide a cam surface 27 which facilitates the application of the deviceto a rail by forcing the tongue portion outwardly from the edge of the rail base when this end of the anchor is elevated until it clears the upper edge thereof, whereupon base.

In applying the anchor to a rail, the jaw portion 24 is hooked over one edge of a rail base with the tie abutting foot 21 adjacent the tie 14. In this position the end of the spring tongue 15 extends under the rail base and the anchor assumes a general position, substantially as shown in dot and dash lines in Fig. 1. The tongue end of the anchor may then be elevated by the use of a suitable implement (not shown) to bring the vertical shoulder 18 of the recess 11 in engagement with the edge of the rail base. The inclined edge 27of the tongue bears against the edge of the rail and functions as a cam to force the tongue outwardly until the tongue clears the upper edge of the rail base, whereupon it will snap over the edge of the rail base and exert a lateral spring pressure against the inclined surface thereof. lln addition to the lateral spring pressure of the tongue on the rail base, avertical pressure is produced by reason of a torsional strain to which the it will snap over the upper surface of the body of the anchor is subjected during the application of the device. When the anchor is applied to its initial position, it will normally be at an angle to the length of the rail, as shown in the dot and dash lines, from which position it may be driven to its opera tive position, so as to effect a firm shackle hold on the opposite edges of the rail base. The spring action of the tongue and the tortional strain of the body portion operate to support the tie abutting foot 21 in its proper position against the under surface of the rail base.

This application is a division of my copending application Serial No. 483,179, filed Jul 8, 1921.

li-i aving described my invention, what if claim is: r

1. A rail anchor comprising a rail base embracing member formed with means for engaging opposite edges of said base, and a spring tongue, the lower edge of which stands at an angle to the inclined upper surface of said base and bears at its extremity against said surface when the anchor is in its applied position.

2. A rail anchor comprising a rail base engaging member formed at one end with a tie-abutment and terminating at the other end in a spring-tongue adapted to bear at its end only against the inclined upper surface of said rail base.

3. A rail anchor comprising a rail base engaging member formed at one end with a tie abutment and terminating at the other end in a spring tongue extending diagonally across the upper surface of the rail base and adapted to bear at its extremity only against said upper surface.

4. A one-piece rail anchor comprising a rail base embracing member formed at one end with a jaw for engaging one edge of a rail base, and with a tie abutting portion, comprising a rigid post portion whlch converges with the edge of the rail base in a direction toward a tie and terminates in an angularly disposed flange adapted to bear against said tie. and formed at the other end with a shoulder for engaging the other edge of said rail base and with a spring tongue adapted to bear at its end only against the upper surface of said base.

5. A one-piece rail anchor device comprising a rail base embracing member formed at one end with a jaw for engaging one edge of a rail base, and with a tie abutment adapmd to bear against a cross tie, and formed at the other end with a shoulder for engaging the opposite edge of said rail base and with a tongue adapted to snap over the upper sur ace of the rail base, so as to exert a torsional strain on said body portion, said tongue being formed to beer at its end only against the upper surface of said rail base. I

6. A oneiece rail anchor comprising a body forme at one end with a jaw havlng a lip adapted to engage the upper surface of a rail base at one edge thereof and with a forwardly projecting portion providing a tie abutment and formed at the other end with a shoulder for engaging the opposite edge of said rail base and with a spring tongue adapted to snap over and bear at its end only against the upper surface of said rail base; said tie abutment being formed to confine its engagement with the tie to a point adjacent the edge of, the rail base and said tongue and body being so formed as to produce a torsional strain in the latter when the device is, applied to a rail.

7. A one-piece rail anchor comprising a body portion formed with a jaw and a shoulder for engaging the opposite edges of a rail base and bent at one end to provide a tie abutment to engage a tie adjacent one edge of the rail and formed at the other end with a spring tongue adapted to snap over and hear at its extremity only against the upper surface of the opposite edge of said base; the shoulder portion adjacent said spring tongue being formed with an outwardly tapered edge for the purpose described.

8. A rail anchor comprising a rail base embracing member formed with" a jaw and a shoulder for engaging opposite edges of said base, and formed at one end with a tie abutment and at the other end with a spring tongue which extends diagonally across and bears upon said upper surface of said rail base; the upper edge of said tongue being formed with a downwardly tapered portion for't-he purpose described, and the lower edge of said tongue being formed substantially parallel with the upper edge of said body-portion so as to confine the engagement of said tongue with the upper surface of the rail base to the outer end of said tongue.

r CHARLES F. YARDLEIY. 

